How to make digestive biscuits

Digestive biscuits are one of the most popular biscuits ever – us Brits just can’t get enough of them!

They’re super-easy to make at home, too, so get the kettle on, roll up your sleeves and get baking.

This is what I like to call a “one-bowl-wonder” recipe, making it an ideal recipe for kids to get involved in. Better still, there are tons of different ways of rolling and cutting the dough – so if you have some creative little people with you, there are lots of options for biscuit design.

The recipe below comes from my first ever book Bee’s Brilliant Biscuits. Enjoy!

1. Using a large bowl and your fingertips, scrunch up the butter, flour and oatmeal until you have a breadcrumb-like consistency.

2. Add in the bicarbonate of soda and sugar and mix a little to combine.

3. Add in 1 tablespoon of milk and try to bring the mixture together to form a dough using your hands. You may need to add in a little more milk to bring it together into one big lump – you’re looking for a dough that sticks together, but doesn’t stick all over your hands.

4. Squidge and squeeze the dough into a nice thick slab, and sandwich it between two sheets of cling film – use a rolling pin to roll out to about 2cm thick, and chill for at least 30 minutes.

5. When the dough is cold, roll it out onto a floured surface to about 1cm thick. If you’re a newbie, try rolling maybe one-third of your dough out first, keeping the rest in the fridge – it’ll be an easier amount to handle.

6. Using a straight edged cookie cutter, or the rim of a small mug or glass (carefully), cut as many rounds as you can from the dough and pop them onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.

7. Emboss some of the biscuit tops if you like – I used the blunt side of a butter knife, the barrel of a pen that I’d removed the inky bit from, a clean fish slice, the bottom of a posh crystal glass and the cooling rack from my kitchen to press shapes into the dough – try for a few different shapes if you can.

8. Put your baking tray back into the fridge to chill for 20 minutes while you preheat your oven to 170°C/325ºF/gas 3.

9. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden brown.

10. Once cooled, if you’re feeling creative, you can dip some of your biscuits into melted chocolate or coloured royal icing, then sprinkle with nuts and seeds for an extra jazzy design.

If you’re looking for more ideas for healthier bakes, check out my oat and fruity no-added-sugar cookies or this fantastic recipe for dairy and gluten-free chocolate and avocado cookies.